When Alex Golesh faced the media ahead of the Florida game, he was asked how close this team was to being the type of football team he envisioned when he got an idea of what his roster looked like. In his answer, he gave an honest assessment of what success really looks like in year one.
Before the season began, Golesh said that his main priority in year one on the Plains was to give the team an identity and to build a culture that will lay the foundation for the years to come. He and his staff have worked hard to unite a team that had nearly 60 newcomers, 39 of whom came to the Plains via the transfer portal.
"Where we are, it's hard to say just simply because this will be a different challenge," Golesh said. "Size-wise, speed-wise, it's different from what we saw a week ago. We took a step and we're going to continue to take steps. What I'm most confident in is what our kids are competing like, what are kids are acting like, what the locker room is like."
Golesh said he didn't have an exact expectation about where the team would be in year one, but he remains confident in how the players are competing for each other and he believes that things are heading in the right direction.
"My confidence comes from the fact that these dudes care about each other," Golesh said. "These dudes are competing for each other, and that may be—I hate to say it—for a year one, and this is my, I guess, sixth time, seventh time being a part of a year one where that's the hardest thing to do and right now these dudes are bought into each other which is really, really positive. If it continues to stay that way and we continue to play really hard and we continue to improve, you'd be really happy."
The Tigers' head coach also acknowledged that the state of the locker room can be fragile, and right now, while the team is 2-0, it's easy for everyone to remain bought it and focused. He said the hope is that things continue in the same way even as the team faces more adversity throughout the season.
Auburn football will open SEC play next weekend when the host the Florida Gators in Jordan-Hare Stadium for a night matchup on ESPN.
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